Kiwis turn eyes from job hunting to festivities

The fastest growing jobs in New Zealand are roles in import/export and customs, according to Seek. Photo / NZH

New job advertisements outpaced the number of applicants last month as kiwis shifted their focus from job-hunting to Christmas shopping and holidays, according to Seek.

The employment website's monthly index increased by 8.4 per cent in Auckland and 6.2 per cent nationwide last month.

This indicated that new job ads on seek.co.nz were growing at a faster rate than applications for those positions, which was not surprising for this time of year, said Seek's general manager Janet Faulding.

"The rise in the Seek Employment Index (SEI) last month is to be expected with applications slowing as Kiwis turn their attention to Christmas shopping and holiday plans during the festive season.

"People also typically use the Christmas and New Year break to contemplate their career goals, but, as with every year, we expect to see jobseeker activity increase considerably in the first half of 2013, as Kiwis return to the office and put their goals in motion."

While the SEI rose significantly in Auckland, it increased by only 0.3 per cent in Canterbury and fell by 1.9 per cent in Wellington.

A decline for the capital on the SEI meant the number of applications received for jobs was increasing more rapidly than job ads, Faulding said.

Year-to-year, the number of new job ads posted has dropped. Growth between October and November was 0.8 per cent, compared to 4.3 growth in between those months last year.

In the quarter to November, the fastest growing jobs were roles in import/export and customs (up 76 per cent) and tertiary lecturers (up 75 per cent).